The present invention generally relates to tools and methods used in the construction industry. More particularly, this invention relates to a dispenser and a method of dispensing a tape that facilitates locating wall studs, joists, rafters, etc., during building construction.
During the typical construction of a building using lumber, a significant amount of time and attention must be given to ensuring that wall studs, joists, rafters, etc., are properly positioned relative to the structures to which they are fastened, such as ceiling and floor plates, collar beams, ridge beams, etc. Efforts have been made to provide systems that simplify this process to some extent, examples of which include U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,320 to Troyer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,590 to Winter et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,858 to Thomas, U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,670 to Brandt, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,590 to Wagner et al. These patents generally disclose adhesive-backed tapes that carry symbols and/or numerical scales. In use, the tapes are, for example, applied to ceiling/floor plates, to indicate the proper placement of wall studs against the plates. As a particular example, Winter et al.'s tape is applied simultaneously to the edges of a pair of floor and ceiling plates held side-by-side, and is cut down its center during its application so that the plates are marked simultaneously for locating wall studs to the plates once separated.
The prior art has also proposed dispensers capable of dispensing tapes of the types noted above on floor/ceiling plates, ridge beams, and collar beams, etc. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 3,567,557 to Kingery, U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,203 to Corston, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,014 to Lafrance. These patents generally disclose such features as a paddle (tongue) for applying pressure to the dispensed tape, and guides for locating the dispenser and tape along an edge of the surface to which the tape is being applied.
Thought the above patents address certain building construction issues, further improvements would be desirable, particularly with respect to the construction and functionality of the dispensers and tapes capable of use for complicated joint orientations, such as the attachment of rafters to ridge beams for roofs of different pitches and types, etc.